OPERATIONS and outpatient appointments are being cancelled as South Wales hospitals have been inundated with sick patients.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board last night said non-urgent surgery and appointments have been put on hold to free up staff at UHW and Llandough Hospital to treat emergency patients.

The changes will come into effect from Monday.

Both hospitals are experiencing “extraordinary pressure” as a result of flu and other winter illnesses.

In a separate move, the board will offer frontline NHS staff the 2009 swine flu jab after running out of the seasonal vaccine.

Dr Graham Shortland, interim medical director of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, asked the public to be patient as the hospitals struggle to cope with demand.

“We are experiencing extraordinary pressure on services at the moment, with seasonal flu and other illnesses currently prevalent in the community compounding already high levels of demand,” he said.

“We have had to take the decision, as part of our winter plan, to move our clinical staff to where they can be most effective which is, at the moment, on our wards, caring for those patients who need inpatient treatment.

“These decisions are not taken lightly and only after a full review of all the options.

“We apologise to those patients whose outpatient appointment or elective surgery will need to be rescheduled as a result, and we will be doing our very best to resume normal arrangements as soon as possible.”